BALLSTON SPA -- A Saratoga County Court judge denied a request Wednesday to refund some of the $75,000 bail posted for the woman accused of stealing up to $500,000 in taxpayer money from the Charlton Fire District.

Virginia DeCapria, 51, and her attorney, Opal Hinds, had asked Judge Jerry Scarano to reduce DeCapria's bail to $70,000, which would have allowed her to use the $5,000 in refunded money to retain an attorney for her upcoming divorce proceedings.

Prosecutors objected, and Scarano denied the request, maintaining the $75,000 cash bail set at DeCapria's Dec. 2 arraignment. DeCapria spent two months in Saratoga County Jail awaiting trial until her brother posted the bail money on Feb. 3, at which point she was released.

She is accused of paying herself for hours she may not have worked, improperly using fire district credit cards to purchase personal items and writing more than 500 fraudulent checks to her and her husband, Dean, who worked as the fire district's chief, between 2005 and 2010.

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Prosecutors say the thefts escalated over the years and DeCapria, who served as the district's secretary and treasurer, is accused of improperly paying herself a salary in 2010 that represented more than half of the district's property tax levy, prosecutors have said.

Authorities do not consider DeCapria's husband a suspect, District Attorney James A. Murphy III said, and there is "no proof he engaged in any criminal conduct." He has cooperated with the State Police investigation of his wife's alleged thefts, Murphy said.

DeCapria, who is charged with numerous felonies in connection with the arrest, was served with divorce papers after her brother bailed her out of Saratoga County Jail in February, Hinds said.

She said her client "has been destitute" since and has been working two part-time jobs. DeCapria added she no longer lives on Charlton Road in Charlton, her listed address when she was charged last fall.

"She does not have the money to pay the (attorney) retainer fee," Hinds said.

In court, prosecutors said the bail Scarano set at arraignment was "reasonable" and hiring a divorce attorney was not a valid reason to request a reduction.

"There is absolutely no case law giving the court the opportunity to reduce bail for this reason," Assistant District Attorney Debra A. Kaelin said.

Kaelin added the entire basis of the criminal case against DeCapria is that she was unlawfully using money that did not belong to her and noted it was DeCapria's family member who posted bail.

"She is requesting this court to authorize money that is not hers in the form of her bail money," Kaelin said.

Murphy called the request "unusual" and added prosecutors believe the bail money should ultimately go toward restitution payments to the Charlton Fire District.

"We feel our proof is strong," Murphy said.

Hinds denied the allegations against her client, but declined further comment.

Asked if she had any reaction to Scarano's ruling, Hinds simply said "no."

The fire district has been reimbursed for some of the allegedly-stolen money through an insurance policy, town officials have said.

DeCapria, who faces up to 15 years if convicted of the most serious felony charge against her, remains out on bail pending her next court appearance, for which there is no timetable yet.